U.S. VOTING RIGHTS TIMELINE

July 2020

U.S. Voting Rights Timeline

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1776

Only people who own land can vote

Declaration of Independence signed. Right to vote during the Colonial and Revolutionary periods is restricted to property owners—most of whom are white male Protestants over the age of 21.

1787

No federal voting standard—states decide who can vote

U.S. Constitution adopted. Because there is no agreement on a national standard for voting rights, states are given the power to regulate their own voting laws. In most cases, voting remains in the hands of white male landowners.

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1789

George Washington elected president. Only 6% of the population can vote.

1790

Citizen=White

1790 Naturalization Law passed. It explicitly states that only “free white” immigrants can become naturalized citizens.

1848

Activists for ending slavery and women’s rights join together

Women’s rights convention held in Seneca Falls, NY. Frederick Douglass, a newspaper editor and former slave, attends the event and gives a speech supporting universal voting rights. His speech helps convince the convention to adopt a resolution calling for voting rights for women.

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1848

Citizenship granted, but voting denied

The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo ends the Mexican-American War and guarantees U.S. citizenship to Mexicans living in the territories conquered by the U.S. However, English language requirements and violent intimidation limit access to voting rights.

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1856

Vote expanded to all white men

North Carolina is the last state to remove property ownership as a requirement to vote.

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1866

Movements unite and divide

Two women’s rights activists, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, form an organization for white and black women and men dedicated to the goal of universal voting rights. The organization later divides and regroups over disagreements in strategies to gain the vote for women and African Americans.

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1868

Former slaves granted citizenship

14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution passed. Citizenship is defined and granted to former slaves. Voters, however, are explicitly defined as male. Although the

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U.S. Voting Rights Timeline

amendment forbids states from denying any rights of citizenship, voting regulation is still left in the hands of the states.

1870

Vote cannot be denied because of race, explicitly –
so other discriminatory tactics used
15th Amendment passed. It states that the right to vote cannot be denied by the federal or state governments based on race. However, soon after, some states begin to enact measures such as voting taxes and literacy tests that restrict the actual ability of African Americans to register to vote. Violence and other intimidation tactics are also used.

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1872

Women try to vote

Susan B. Anthony is arrested and brought to trial in Rochester, New York, for attempting to vote in the presidential election. At the same time, Sojourner Truth, a former slave and advocate for justice and equality, appears at a polling booth in Grand Rapids, Michigan, demanding a ballot but she is turned away.

1876

Indigenous people cannot vote

The Supreme Court rules that Native Americans are not citizens as defined by the 14th Amendment and, thus, cannot vote.

1882

The Chinese Exclusion Act bars people of Chinese ancestry from naturalizing to become U.S. citizens.

1887

Assimilation=Right to Vote

Dawes Act passed. It grants citizenship to Native Americans who give up their tribal affiliations

1890

Wyoming admitted to statehood and becomes first state to legislate voting for women in its constitution.

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1890

Indigenous people must apply for citizenship

The Indian Naturalization Act grants citizenship to Native Americans whose applications are approved—similar to the process of immigrant naturalization.

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1912-13

Women lead voting rights marches through New York and Washington, D.C.

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1919

Military Service=Citizenship for Native Americans

Native Americans who served in the military during World War I are granted U.S. citizenship.

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U.S. Voting Rights Timeline

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1920

Right to vote extended to women

19th Amendment passed, giving women right to vote in both state and federal elections.

1922

Asian≠White≠Citizen

Supreme Court rules that people of Japanese heritage are ineligible to become naturalized citizens. In the next year, the Court finds that Asian Indians are also not eligible to naturalize.

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1924

Again, citizenship granted but voting denied

The Indian Citizenship Act grants citizenship to Native Americans, but many states nonetheless make laws and policies which prohibit Native Americans from voting.

1925

Military Service=Citizenship for Filipinos

Congress bars Filipinos from U.S. citizenship unless they have served three years in the Navy.

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1926

State violence used to prevent people from exercising their right to vote

While attempting to register to vote in Birmingham, Alabama, a group of African American women are beaten by election officials.

1947

Legal barriers to Native American voting removed

Miguel Trujillo, a Native American and former Marine, sues New Mexico for not allowing him to vote. He wins and New Mexico and Arizona are required to give the vote to all Native Americans.

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1952

McCarran-Walter Act grants all people of Asian ancestry the right to become citizens.

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1961

23rd amendment passed. It gives citizens of Washington, D.C. the right to vote for U.S. president. But to this day, the district’s residents—most of whom are African American—still do not have voting representation in Congress.

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1963-64

Voting rights as civil rights

Large-scale efforts in the South to register African Americans to vote are intensified. However, state officials refuse to allow African Americans to register by using voting taxes,literacytestsandviolentintimidation. AmongtheeffortslaunchedisFreedom Summer, where close to a thousand civil rights workers of all races and backgrounds converge on the South to support voting rights.

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U.S. Voting Rights Timeline

1964

No special tax to vote

24th Amendment passed. It guarantees that the right to vote in federal elections will not be denied for failure to pay any tax.

1965

Grassroots movement forces change in law

Voting Rights Act passed. It forbids states from imposing discriminatory restrictions on who can vote, and provides mechanisms for the federal government to enforce its provisions. The legislation is passed largely under pressure from protests and marches earlier that year challenging Alabama officials who injured and killed people during African American voter registration efforts.

1966

After the legal change, struggle continues for social change

Civil rights activist James Meredith is wounded by a sniper during a solo “Walk Against Fear” voter registration march between Tennessee and Mississippi. The next day, nearly 4,000 African Americans register to vote. And other civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Stokely Carmichael continue the march while Meredith heals. Meredith rejoins March at its conclusion in Mississippi.

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1971

Voting age lowered to 18

26th Amendment passed, granting voting rights to 18-year-olds. The amendment is largely a result of Vietnam War-protests demanding a lowering of the voting age on the premise that people who are old enough to fight are old enough to vote.

1975

Voting materials in various languages

Amendments to Voting Rights Act require that certain voting materials be printed in languages besides English so that people who do not read English can participate in the voting process.

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1993

Making voter registration easier

National Voter Registration Act passed. Intends to increase the number of eligible citizens who register to vote by making registration available at the Department of Motor Vehicles, and public assistance and disabilities agencies.

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2000

Residents of U.S. colonies are citizens, but cannot vote

A month prior to the presidential election, a federal court decides that Puerto Ricans living in Puerto Rico, though U.S. citizens, cannot vote for U.S. president. Residents of U.S. territories including Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin

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U.S. Voting Rights Timeline

Islands—nearly 4.1 million people total—cannot vote in presidential elections and do not have voting representation in the U.S Congress.

2001

Debate—Should voting rights be taken away from felons? For how long?

The National Commission on Federal Election Reform recommends that all states allow felons to regain their right to vote after completing their criminal
sentences. Nearly 4 million US citizens cannot vote because of past felony convictions. In California, felons are prohibited from voting while they are in prison or on parole. But, in other states, especially in the South, a person with a felony conviction is forever prohibited from voting in that state. These laws are a legacy of post-Civil War attempts to prevent African Americans from voting. Ex-felons are largely poor and of color.

2002

Trying to solve election inconsistency with more federal voting standards

Help America Vote Act (HAVA) passed in response to disputed 2000 presidential election. Massivevotingreformeffortrequiresstatescomplywithfederalmandate for provisional ballots, disability access, centralized, computerized voting lists, electronic voting and requirement that first-time voters present identification before voting.

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